Seattle Storm

Former WNBA forward and current ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike broke the news of her sister, Nneka, re-signing with the Seattle Storm in free agency while live on SportsCenter.

"This is huge, congratulations to my big sis," Chiney said Friday. "Shoutout to watching live and texting me live."

Nneka initially signed a one-year deal with Seattle ahead of the 2024 season after spending the first 12 years of her career with the Los Angeles Sparks.

She made nine All-Star appearances throughout her impressive tenure in Los Angeles, winning MVP and helping guide the team to a championship in 2016.

Her first year with the Storm was also stellar, averaging 16.7 points and 7.6 rebounds to go along with 2.3 assists per game. Ogwumike shot 51.1 percent from the field, 40.5 percent from three-point territory and 87.6 percent on free throws.

Seattle ended the year with a 25-15 record, ultimately falling to the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the playoffs.

Ogwumike's reunion with the Storm doesn't come as a large surprise, as Percy Allen of the Seattle Times reported Jan. 10 that "the team believes it has built strong ties" to re-sign her.

As for Chiney, she's played seven seasons in the WNBA with the Connecticut Sun as well as the Sparks. She averaged 11.6 points and 6.5 rebounds per game throughout her career, earning 2014 Rookie of the Year honors as well as a pair of All-Star nods.

She became an analyst at ESPN in 2018.

The Storm are in the midst of a busy offseason, as they dealt Jewell Loyd to the Aces in a massive three-team trade on Sunday. Seattle acquired the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft as part of the move.

Nneka Ogwumike is now set to return to the team next season, and the news of the reunion was released by her sister.

Guard Jewell Loyd has played for the Seattle Storm throughout her WNBA career, but that may change in the near future.

Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday that Loyd requested a trade. The report comes after the Storm announced the external investigation into allegations of harassment and bullying from the coaching staff did not discover any violations.

"The Storm recently received internal allegations of potential workplace policy violations," the statement said, per ESPN's Kevin Pelton. "The organization retained an outside investigator to conduct an impartial investigation into the allegations. The investigation has been completed and there were no findings of policy violations or any discrimination, harassment, or bullying."

Costabile explained this could be an offseason of "roster overhaul" for the Storm even beyond Loyd with the expansion draft Friday and players such as Nneka Ogwumike, Mercedes Russell, Gabby Williams and Sami Whitcomb scheduled for free agency.

But losing Loyd, who signed a two-year supermax extension with the team in September 2023, would be the biggest development from a roster perspective of the offseason.

After all, she has developed into a franchise legend since Seattle selected her with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2015 WNBA draft. Her resume includes two championships, the 2015 Rookie of the Year, the 2023 scoring title, three All-WNBA selections and six All-Star nods.

Seattle took home the 2018 and 2020 WNBA titles with Loyd as the No. 2 scorer on both squads behind Breanna Stewart. She then assumed even more of a scoring role when Stewart left to join the New York Liberty for the 2023 campaign.

Loyd averaged a league-best 24.7 points per game that season, although the Storm failed to reach the playoffs.

They were much better in 2024 at 25-15 following the additions of Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith, although they were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Las Vegas Aces.

However, the 2025 roster could look much different, especially if Loyd is traded.

The Seattle Storm announced Tuesday they signed veteran forward Gabby Williams for the remainder of the 2024 WNBA season.

Williams, who spent the last two years with Seattle, is coming off a 2024 Summer Olympics in which she helped France win a silver medal and was named the Best Defensive Player of the tournament.

"We're thrilled to have Gabby back with the Storm," Storm head coach Noelle Quinn said. "Gabby is a dynamic player who brings tremendous versatility. She's a two-way player that can guard multiple positions and has a strong offensive game; given her familiarity with our system, we know she can have an immediate impact. Gabby's Olympic performance showcased her world-class talent, and we're excited to have her join us as we push for the playoffs."

Her Hoop Stats' Richard Cohen laid out the salary cap machinations that made Williams' return to the Storm possible:

The 27-year-old is widely regarded as an elite defender, a reputation she bolstered further in Paris. She averaged 2.8 steals while finishing as France's leading scorer (15.5 points) and playmaker (4.8 assists).

The Athletic's Sabreena Merchant explained why it was nonetheless unclear whether Williams would suit up with a WNBA team for the stretch run.

The core player designation operates similarly to the franchise tag in the NFL. A player is guaranteed the supermax salary for one season, but their current team maintains exclusive negotiating rights.

Merchant questioned whether Williams, who sat out the entire 2021 season while focusing on the Olympics and nearly missed all of 2022 due to the WNBA's prioritization rule, would prefer to preserve maximum flexibility as a free agent in 2025 instead of signing now and risk being cored next winter.

The Storm made the biggest splash of any team in the offseason when they landed both Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins-Smith. The big bets have paid off for the most part with Seattle sitting fifth in the league at 17-10.

Reuniting with Williams doesn't fully bridge the gap on the first-place New York Liberty, but the Storm will be a much tougher foe in the playoffs now.

The Seattle Storm announced rookie guard Nika Mühl will make her WNBA debut Wednesday night against the Indiana Fever.

The second-round draft pick missed the team's first four games due to issues with her visa.

She seemingly had a good sense of humor about the situation, arriving to the game wearing a shirt with her approved visa on it:

"The process is complete, so she will be with us tonight and have an opportunity to step on to the court," head coach Noelle Quinn said to ESPN's Kevin Pelton.

The Next's Howard Megdal reported Monday that Mühl had been approved for a P1 work visa, the absence of which had prevented her from suiting up for the Storm.

Expectations are high for the 23-year-old. In her two seasons as a regular starter at UConn, she averaged 7.0 points on 43.8 percent shooting along with 7.2 assists per game.

Seattle could desperately use Mühl's playmaking ability with the backcourt combo of Jewell Loyd and Skylar Diggins-Smith still learning how to play off one another out of the gate.

The Storm are last in assists (14.8 per game), 10th in turnovers (19.8) and last in assist rate (52.7 percent), according to WNBA.com. As much as Loyd and Diggins-Smith should be empowered to freelance and create their own shots, the offense has been far too isolation-heavy.

The fact that Loyd and Diggins-Smith have combined to shoot 28.1 percent from the floor has only exacerbated the problem.

Mühl will presumably come off the bench against the Fever given the time she has been out, and that's where her role could stay once Quinn settles on a regular rotation.

But having a true facilitator who isn't looking to score at a high volume will go some way toward ironing out Seattle's offensive woes.

WNBA legend Sue Bird is joining the Seattle Storm's ownership group, Force 10 Hoops.

Bird spent her entire 19-year career with the Storm and helped the franchise win four titles.

"As a player, I poured my heart into every game for the Seattle Storm, and now, as part of the ownership group, I am thrilled to continue contributing to the growth of the game," she said in Wednesday's announcement.

"Investing in women's sports isn't just about passion; it's smart business. It's about recognizing the immense talent, dedication, and market potential our league has always had. Force 10 Hoops and the Storm have been at the forefront of this for decades. Together, we're not just shaping the future of basketball, but also paving the way for a more equitable and inclusive society."

Bird is the most iconic figure in the Storm's history and one of two players along with Lauren Jackson to have her jersey retired by the organization.

One presumed she'd return in an official capacity in some form when the moment arrived, whether it was coaching, working in the front office, or claiming a minority ownership stake.

"We are thrilled to welcome Sue into the ownership group after a storied career on the court," said co-owner Lisa Brummel. "Her knowledge of the game and the league, her ever-expanding business acumen, and her dedication to the Storm organization, make her a superb addition to the ownership group."

For Bird, the timing couldn't have been any better.

Women's basketball as a whole is riding the crest of a wave. The momentum has been building for years, but the recent explosion in popularity is owed in large part to Caitlin Clark. Her arrival in the WNBA should be a boon for the league.

As that's happening, the WNBA is also inching toward the expiration of its current media rights deal. The next television contract may lead the league's revenues to soar, which would in turn raise the valuations for each of its 13 franchises.

The Storm set their own valuation at a WNBA-record $151 million in February 2023 as part of their efforts to finance a new training facility that opened earlier this month.

Re-joining the Storm as a team owner obviously carried a strong emotional pull for Bird. Beyond that, it's a savvy financial move that could turn a sizable profit in the event she ever cashes in on her stake.

The Seattle Storm announced Monday they signed 2016 WNBA MVP Nneka Ogwumike.

"Nneka is one of the most impactful players in the history of our league, not only her achievements on the court but also as an agent of positive change across the WNBA," general manager Talisa Rhea said. "I know Seattle and our community share our enthusiasm that Nneka is coming to the Storm."

This is Seattle's second major addition of the offseason after signing six-time All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith.

The last time Seattle entered a rebuilding phase, the organization adopted a moderate approach.

Winning the WNBA draft lottery in back-to-back seasons allowed the Storm to add Jewell Loyd and then Breanna Stewart. Between Stewart's arrival in 2016 and their 2018 championship, a sign-and-trade for Minnesota Lynx reserve forward Natasha Howard was the biggest outside acquisition.

This time around, the front office is acting much more aggressively.

Seattle had the WNBA's second-worst record (10-29) in 2023, which was to be expected after veteran guards Sue Bird and Briann January retired and Breanna Stewart left to sign with the New York Liberty. Now, the team is adding two of the top free agents on the board.

In the case of Ogwumike, the Storm are getting a player who remained an elite scorer and rebounder last year. She averaged 19.1 points on 51.2 percent shooting along with 8.8 rebounds.

The 33-year-old is a great offensive complement to Ezi Magbegor. The Storm center was an All-Star for the first time in 2023 and earned her second successive All-Defensive nod. With the arrival of Ogwumike, Magbegor can continue to operate at the 5 while Seattle gets much more scoring punch out of the power forward position.

And Ogwumike clearly believes she has a lot left in the tank. The Liberty were among the finalists to sign her, but ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported she "she decided on the Storm because they presented her with a clear role and an opportunity to contend for a title."

New York would've been a much better fit if Ogwumike was prepared to take on a lesser burden at this stage of her career, much like Candace Parker did when she signed with the Las Vegas Aces last offseason. Instead, she's poised to be the second or third scoring option in Seattle.

Because they're both running it back for the most part, the Liberty and Aces are shaping up to remain the two strongest squads in the league. With Diggins-Smith and Ogwumike in the mix, the Storm might be able to at least challenge for a top-four seed, which is a significant improvement over where they stood this time last winter.

Veteran guard Skylar Diggins-Smith has agreed to join the Seattle Storm, the team announced on Thursday.

According to The Next's Howard Megdal, Diggins-Smith signed a two-year contract. The two-year deal is reportedly worth $208,219 in 2024 and $214,466 in 2025.

Diggins-Smith also posted a video of her getting shots up on social media that confirmed she's joining the Storm.

Diggins-Smith sat out the 2023 season while on maternity leave.

In 2022, while playing for the Phoenix Mercury, she put up 19.7 points, 5.5 assists and four rebounds per game. The 2022 season was her second-best scoring year, just behind the 2014 season when she put up 20.1 points per game.

Diggins-Smith was drafted by the Tulsa Shock in 2013 and has put up 16.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and five assists for her career. She spent six seasons with the Shock, who ultimately became the Dallas Wings in 2016, before joining Phoenix in 2020.

A day before signing Diggins-Smith, the Storm traded guard Kia Nurse and the No. 4 pick in the 2024 draft in exchange for the Los Angeles Sparks' 2026 first-round pick. The move gave Seattle some much-needed cap space and the ability to sign Diggins-Smith.

The Storm struggled last season, finishing the year 11-29 and missing the playoffs. Now with Diggins-Smith joining the mix and pairing up with former Notre Dame teammate Jewell Loyd, Seattle will be looking to return to the success it has seen in past seasons.

Loyd put together the best year of her career in 2023, averaging 24.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. With another elite scoring option alongside her in Diggins-Smith in 2024, the duo will be one to watch for.

The Los Angeles Sparks acquired guard Kia Nurse and the No. 4 overall pick in the WNBA draft from the Seattle Storm for a 2026 first-rounder.

"I am excited that we were able to acquire Kia and welcome her to our Sparks family," Sparks coach Curt Miller said. "Kia is a versatile veteran guard who can play multiple positions and brings a toughness and physicality that will fit in perfectly with our team."

After missing the entire 2022 season due to a torn ACL, Nurse averaged 5.9 points and 1.3 assists in 19.7 minutes per game in her only year with Seattle. She was a regular in the starting lineup in the first half before Gabby Williams' midseason return helped to push her down to the bench.

With Wednesday's trade, many were left to wonder whether Seattle is clearing the deck for something big in free agency.

The Storm hosted Nneka Ogwumike for a visit, while Skylar Diggins-Smith would address their immediate need for a veteran point guard to line up alongside Jewell Loyd. Now, they have the flexibility to sign both players if the opportunity presents itself.

Maybe general manager Talisa Rhea has something different in mind, but it would be odd for a team to surrender a lottery pick in order to get salary cap relief and then not put that cap space to good use.

On the other side of the trade, the Sparks add another asset that will help them lay the long-term foundation of the roster. They now have two of the top four selections in the upcoming draft.

The fourth pick has a lot less value given this is widely considered a three-player class between Iowa's Caitlin Clark, Stanford's Cameron Brink and UConn's Paige Bueckers.

But any one of South Carolina forward Kamilla Cardoso, UConn's Aaliyah Edwards or Tennessee's Rickea Jackson could be an impactful contributor in the frontcourt. If Los Angeles goes with Brink at No. 2, then Ohio State's Jacy Sheldon or Virginia Tech's Georgia Amoore would be a suitable backcourt foil.

Ogwmike's goodbye wasn't how Sparks fans wanted to start the offseason. Wednesday provided a little bit of relief.

Seattle Storm star Jewell Loyd agreed to a two-year contract extension Saturday that includes supermax money in the first year of the deal, her agent told ESPN's Andraya Carter.

Loyd, 29, is now locked in with the organization through 2025 on a deal just under $500,000 after she set the franchise's single-season scoring record previously held by Breanna Stewart on Friday night.

She now has 911 points for the year and will have a few more seasons in the Emerald City to keep etching her name in the record books.

One of the few remaining pieces from Seattle's 2020 WNBA title, Loyd has been the lone bright spot during what's been a forgettable first season without Stewart, who signed with the New York Liberty in free agency.

The Storm currently have the second-worst record in the league at 11-28 and have already been eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2015, Loyd's rookie season.

The team's poor performance hasn't stopped Loyd from shining, though. She leads the league in scoring with 24.6 points per game, directly in front of MVP front runners Stewart (23.3) and A'ja Wilson (22.5).

And with that production has come even more accolades. Loyd was selected to her third-consecutive All-Star game and was named All-Star game MVP. She also looks well on her way to a second All-WNBA First-Team selection to go along with her shiny new contract extension.